I don’t know about you but I’ve lately found that there’s an overwhelming amount of influence (guidance and pressure) upon my life that I hadn’t hitherto fully discerned or acknowledged.  I mean to say, getting where one is is not as simple as recounting the details of one’s scholarly achievements or movements about the planet.  The increasingly obvious fact to me is that there have been many circumstances and people, background and pathways, which were often hidden from view but which have unknowingly directed and swayed me. No doubt this private epiphany of mine is laughable to those of you who have a more critical analysis of your curriculum vitae or official record of what it is that made you what you are.  I guess I’m just so stubborn and intent upon getting my own way that I mistakenly (or should I say, arrogantly) assumed I had fully succeeded to do so without the unknown persuasion of others or the irreversible import of cultural and social dynamics.

Continue reading →

The piffling subject of car repair is however not without its substance and unwitting avenues of inspiration. Weeks ago I discovered the massage, lumbar and back bolster adjustments of the driver’s seat of my car were not functioning.  At eight o’clock this morning as scheduled I delivered the car to Alex Zimmerling, Service Advisor, Reid Bros GM dealership in Arnprior. Alex is always a pleasure; his dry wit being paramount.  He gave me a Chevrolet Equinox to drive in the meantime – which I am happy to say I do not like particularly well but only because it would have disappointed me to bring to light something I liked better than my XT4.

Continue reading →

It isn’t every day that we have to go to the city. I say “have to” because as a rural cave dweller approaching a near half-century (Almonte since 1976 to be precise) I have come to view the world beyond the Irish boundary of Corkery as uninviting. It is an irreverence which increases each time I go there not because I dislike the city in particular but because I find the commotion within its embroiled circumstance overwhelming.

Corkery is a dispersed rural community in West Carleton-March Ward in the western part of Ottawa, Canada. It is located about 9 km southwest of Carp, in the former Township of West Carleton. Corkery was founded by approximately 100 Irish families from County Cork immigrating to the region in the early 19th century, locally known as the “Peter Robinson settlers”. The first church in the village was built in 1837, although some reports put it at 1824 which would make it the second-oldest Catholic church in the Ottawa region.Construction began in 1864 on a stone church meant to replace the wooden structure. On February 26, 1865 the church was completed and consecrated as St. Michael’s Catholic Parish. The parish operated in debt for nearly two decades, until Rev. Patrick Corkery became minister in 1884, and spent the next twenty years improving and renovating the church.

Continue reading →

When I arrived in Almonte in June of 1976 I rented a house from Rev. and Mrs. George Bickley who then resided in the manse of St. Paul’s Anglican Church where Rev. Bickley was the minister. The first house I bought in 1978 was a very small house. Otherwise there are few remarkable features of it I now recall.  One however lingers.  That was a handmade bespoke stained glass window.  It too was relatively small, say 1½ feet square, with an ancient pine frame. The glasswork was made by Robert Pauly who I believe then had the further distinction of living in the Village of Clayton.  I do not remember how I was introduced to the artist but I clearly recollect that in addition to appreciating his talent I enjoyed dealing with him.  He stood out as they say. He was animated and up-lifting. The small window was located slightly above eye-level on the eastern exterior wall of the living room. As you might well conclude, it invited the early morning sunshine and profited in due course from the exuberance of the thriving stained glass. The little window (it was almost a porthole) opened and closed, with a brass hinge to secure it.

Continue reading →

May 25, 2024
Almonte, Ontario

Interested to know…

Toss it out, acquit, hang or send him to jail—what does your legal mind say to you, Bill?

I would so love to be in the jury room to hear the debates that will probably go on and teflon Donald likely will slip thru the noose once more but from my monitoring of trial thru transcripts, I would find him guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt but then I wouldn’t get picked as an impartial jury member!

Karen H.

Continue reading →

Many are pledged to the golf club upon its advent in the late springtime. Especially so on a glorious day such as today when at four o’clock this morning I recall having seen sunlight already appearing from behind the bedroom roller shades. Today May 25th marks the celebratory opening and clubhouse luncheon. My partner, I and my erstwhile physician chose instead to start the day with breakfast at 8:30 am overlooking the first tee.

Continue reading →

Adjoining the common lament that, “You can’t have it all!” is the stabilizing knee-jerk revival that, “I wouldn’t change shoes with anyone!”  One’s occasional decline to comparative want is inevitably triumphed by the acknowledgement of comparative completeness. The admission of this incongruity of yearning and fulfillment is what succeeds to project one to seek fulfillment at every turn. It is also a recognition of the unfathomable complexities of achievement. Ofttimes the surge of contemplation is such that it entirely removes the credibility of any restraint upon satisfaction. In short, the direness of life is eclipsed by its wonder.

Continue reading →

Our functional vis-à-vis social convention with Alana and Jay at eleven o’clock this morning was favourably concluded though rather more precipitously than we had anticipated. The steep ending was however far from unexpected. They’re busy. Very  busy. The simmering urgency and hastiness of our hosts and their houseguest Isaac was evident immediately upon our arrival at their country estate.  Apart from me, no one sat down even for a moment during the entire time we were there, suspended in the elaborate new kitchen, hearing of the innumerable things they have yet to do to complete their impending caravan to Nova Scotia three days hence.

Continue reading →

We left the apartment this morning around 10:30 am. We had voluntarily ejected ourselves from the premises in anticipation of the arrival of our housekeeper to perform her scheduled endeavour. The ambient temperature was already close to 30°C.  All day the uncommonly high temperature lingered. What however made it magical and bearable was the SSW gusts at 42 Km/hr. On the surface at least the air was dry though the mid-afternoon forecast warned of “A Severe Thunderstorm Watch” affecting Eastern Lanark County. As well you might imagine the weather was shifting to more seasonable expectations; and the temperature was thereafter forecast to drop to a high of 25°C tomorrow though happily beneath perfectly clear skies. All in all it has made for an exceptional day and an equally effervescent drive in the country up, down and around the well-maintained roads.

Continue reading →

Today in the apartment was “refresh day”, meaning laundry day and purifying the place generally followed by routine grocery shopping at our favourite stores Metro, Farm Boy and Dandelion Foods. Judging by the anxiety evident on the roads as we motored forth, there were many others likewise re-establishing themselves from their weekend holiday status of erstwhile inactivity and indolence. Everywhere there was a palpable bustle and imperativeness. Seemingly opening the cottage is not all work; or at least not unrewarded.

Continue reading →